14 Replies to “No Big Deal if Your Logo is Similar to Another?”

  1. Hey Vivienne,

    I don’t want a lawsuit to fight against.. That will really take up most of my capital and my precious time wasted which I could use it to earn money.

    But it’s really a good idea to copy certain nice designs but please don’t over-do it.

    I will still go all out for my own unique design though as I’m a rather graphic person.

    Nice article!

    Success,
    Erwin

  2. Wow! I can see that this could be a huge problem. Thanks for this insightful article.

    I only designed a logo once, back when I was employed in a corporation. It was for a product and not a company. It was mostly the initials of the product in a particular font and color.

    Thanks again!

  3. Erwin: Having your own identity is certainly better than merely modelling after another.

    Laura: I’m sure commercial copywriting pose similar challenge too. I was at a seminar recently and even the facilitator said copy “modelling” is one quick way to success.

  5. Oh yes I completely agree with you. I create logos for a living and it is just so hard to make sure and not create a logo that is the same as another logo. I have to do so much research before I can even begin creating a new logo for a contracted company and the act of researching has done me well. Nice post!

  6. Also, so far I have not created a logo that is similar enough to another company’s logo to cause problems but I have heard a lot of other people getting into quite a bit of trouble because they lacked on researching the topic thoroughly. I plan to let a few of them know about this article so that they may see the importance of researching before creation.

  7. Hi Stephanie

    Thank you for your kind words. When we started Versa, I wanted an unique, one-of-the-kind logo yet timeless and classy. That will avoid the issues I listed in the above post. I was very happy when our design director conceptualized a mirror-image logo. No matter which side you see from, the image remains the same. It was useful even as an ice-breaker when we hand out our business clients to prospective client.

  9. Even with a tonne of research you can check against every logo in existence. The most important thing is that the logo works best for you.

  12. Thanks for such a great article! I was in quest of such an informatove article. Presently I am working on similar subject since I have found some ‘copycat’ tendendencies in my own country
    that is really going against the interest of my organization (my employer-the largest life insurance company of India http://www.licindia.in). The most interesting thing I found is that a Sanlam-a leading life insurance company of South Africa ( http://www.sanlam.co.za) is in my list too. Their logo is identically similar to ours. I did not find even a single logo that looks so similar earlier in this arena.
    I wrote to them a few days ago pasking the chemistry of this and
    I have been ansewerd –

    ”
    ———- Forwarded message ———-
    From: “Erna Wetzel”
    Date: Nov 15, 2011 4:05 PM
    Subject: Logo used by Sunlam
    To: “Kelly Paulse” , “Nandi Scorer” , “pradeep.ray.here@gmail.com”
    Cc: “Johan Bester”

    Good day – your e-mail to the arbitrator’s office of Sanlam Life Insurance Limited in South Africa refers .

    1.       I presume you are referring to the similarities between the two companies’ logo’s? ( LIC attached). I can assure you that it is purely co-incidental, and there is no intention of piracy.

    2.       Sanlam is a well-established company who started out as early as 1918 in South Africa.

    3.       Our current logo was designed in 1973, and has been in use since then

    4.       This logo has been registered as a Trade Mark in South Africa in 1973 and  also elsewhere in the world, where we do business.

    5.       When registering Trademarks ,  IP –  searches  are not necessarily done, nor registered  world-wide, and since LIC does not do business in SA, and until recently Sanlam has not done business in India, it was not a concern. Both companies’ logos have been registered in their respective  countries of origin – which is the most important. One cannot  really object to another party using a similar logo in a country where you do not do business, or have not registered such logo as a Trade Mark
     For your information though, Sanlam is currently  branching out to  India, and have applied to have our logo registered there.   However, we have already been informed by your India Registrar  of IP that our logo will not be able to proceed to registration due to LIC’s  long standing rights.

     Is there anything else I can help you with to set your mind at ease  that we are  very proud of our long standing Sanlam trademark, and we  will definitely not  intentionally “ steal”  someone else’s concept?

    Please contact me directly at above e-mail address should you  want to discuss  this further.

     Kind regards and good luck with your research.

    ERNA WETZEL
    BRAND MANAGER
    Sanlam: Business & Professional Markets

    2 Strand Road, Bellville 7530, South Africa
    PO Box 1, Sanlamhof 7532, South Africa
    Tel  +27 21 947 4506
    Fax  +27 21 947 6078
    Mobile  +27 82 854 3177
    Web  http://www.sanlam.co.za
    e-mail  erna.wetzel@sanlam.co.za

    pradeep ray

    11/11/2011 22:17

    To

    arbitrator@sanlam.co.za

    cc

    Subject

    Logo used by Sunlam

    Dear sir,

    I am presently preparing a research article on “Logos of life insurance companies. I have searched internet a lot and found some unpleasant items . These are ,unfortunately the cases of stealing intellectual properties .

    Many of the companies have simply stolen the uunique logo used by the “life insurance insurance corporation of India “-the largest life insurance company of India (established by the government of india india in the year 1956 under life insurance corporation act./www.licindia.in).

    The speciality of Sunlam life is their copycacat ability. This is nothing but a case of piracy.

    This may kindly be looked into for further action .

    With regards

    Pradeep Ray
    India

    Please click on the following link for terms of use of this communication: http://www.sanlam.co.za/email-terms-of-use

    Please click on the following link for terms of use of this communication: http://www.sanlam.co.za/email-terms-of-use ”
    It should be noted that my company (Life Insurance Corporatoion of India, popularly known as LIC) created the logo in the year 1956 whereas Sanlam
    designed the same in 1973. This is not their first ever design. This the most probably the 8th avatar of their logo that is completely different from their earlier versions!
    And if they are correct in terms of copyright & ip act as per their explanation given in their email, then is it possible to rename xyz cola as ‘Coke’ or ‘Pepsi’ where these giants is inoperative?

    What would you say?

    Please tell me something new.

    Pradeep Ray,
    Calcutta, India

  13. Hey there!

    It is such a good post. But then again in the business of today, uniqueness is better and its okay to have almost the same logos but LAWSUITS are going to take your bank account and funds.

    Love the blog post. Cheers!
    Melissa
    WhiteSpaceInternational

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